Sky's Now TV service launches on Xbox 360

Sky has launched its Now TV service on the Xbox 360, through Xbox Live. Available as a downloadable application, it enables customers to access Sky Movies content on-demand without a subscription.

And you can even try it out for 30 days completely free of charge.

Seen as a rival to Netflix and Lovefilm, Now TV has been available since the middle of July on a number of other platforms, including iPhone, iPad, Android, PC, Mac and, more recently, YouView. It offers access to all 11 of the Sky Movies live channels (through a Sky Movies Pass subscription costing £15 per month) and a catalogue of over 1,000 movies to watch on-demand, priced from 99p for classics to £3.49 for current blockbusters.

The Xbox 360 app also includes Kinect compatibility, with users able to navigate through the Now TV user interface using gesture and voice controls.

HD movies are also offered where available, although they will be limited to 720i - presumably because the Xbox 360's native resolution is 1280 x 720 (it upscales to 1920 x 1080 in the settings) and interlaced rather than progressive images are less bandwidth hungry.

In the coming months, Sky will also be introducing Sky Sports to Now TV, which will include Premier League footy action, and shows from its entertainment channels, Sky 1, Sky Atlantic, Sky Arts and Sky Living, will also become available.

Access to Now TV for PlayStation 3 and Roku streaming player owners is also currently in development.

Do you use Now TV? Is it a decent rival to services like Netflix and Lovefilm? Let us know in the comments below...

Our senior ed of news and features has been a tech and games journalist for more than 27 years, and has been with Pocket-lint for over five. Rik has edited a number of videogame magazines in the past, was deputy editor of Home Cinema Choice, and his TV career included stints as co-presenter of Channel 4's Gamesmaster and Sky One’s Games World.